Be In The Know

District Updates from the September School Board meeting:

Student Growth:  CISD experienced Student Growth of approximately 434 students district-wide.

• 3.4 % increase at Elementary level
• 5.0% increase at Middle School level
• 4.9% increase at High School level

 Extra students over projection have provided $2,318,000 in additional revenue this year.

 Open Enrollment:  68 Students taking advantage of CISD’s new Open Enrollment Program

•  49 Students at Cottonwood Creek Elementary
• 19 Students at Town Center Elementary

 To date, no students living in the CCE or TCE attendance zones have been required to attend a different campus due to open enrollment.

 Approximately $394,000 additional income has been generated from Open Enrollment this year.

 Classroom Waivers:  42 Classroom Waivers are anticipated this year.   The majority of these were caused by allowing siblings to stay on same campuses.   Several other local districts are also anticipating significant waivers.

GT Testing for 5th grade students entering middle school

 New this year, 5th grade students in the GT/Challenge program will no longer undergo testing to qualify for GT classes at the middle school level.   Testing performed in previous years revealed that 98% of students tested performed qualified to remain in the GT program.

 Due to this very high percentage, the district decided it was not financially prudent to continue testing for this group of students.   Staff time can now be re-directed to focusing on student activities and education.

 State Legislature

The following bills were passed this summer:

Senate Bills 1 & 2 (fiscal matters) 

6% education funding reduction for 2011-2012 and larger share of funding reductions for wealthier school districts in 2012-2013.  Those “Rainy Day” funds will most likely be used for Medicaid shortfalls instead of education shortfalls.

 Senate Bill 8 (giving school district ‘administrative flexibility’)

• class-size mandate, with waivers due to a reduction in state aid
• non-renew contract employees 10 days before school ends vs. previous 45 day notice
• repeals “last-in, first-out” provision, as teachers with continuing contracts may be terminated based on performance evaluations
• permits permanent salary reductions
• freezes minimum salary schedule for teachers and others
• allows unpaid furloughs of up to six non-instructional days.